Erik Hammel, (organisation withheld)

My company (or at least my divisional group in my company) has TrackStudio as one of its cornerstones for development tracking. We use it as an extended bug tracker and repository of documents and user requests. In a way, I've set it up to act as a Sourceforge-like site, and so basically it's the reference base for anything anyone might need to find out about our software development project.

The fact that I say this means one very important thing: TrackStudio is so dynamic, it can satisfy the needs of many different projects. Its open-endedness allows for almost limitless customization, and yet it comes ready right out of the box, which is very convenient for making quick solutions. If you're looking for a tool that you hope will address several of your communication, organizational and streamlining needs, I say look no further.

There are a few snags though. If your company isn't used to reporting in a workflow-based environment, the transition to using TrackStudio can be tough. It'll require training for the rest of your coworkers. Also, some aspects of customization can be a bit tricky - setting up practically anything is possible, but unless you're willing to get your hands dirty in the source code (which they provide!), some things just won't be available. The reporting system is a good example of a template in place that doesn't fully offer customization at the top level. If you want charts, chances are you'll be generating a distributed report and manually making the charts in the excel export, or a UserWorkload report if you use the budgeting feature of task reporting (it won't work otherwise).

I still wish TrackStudio would implement some things I could use, but development on it is active and they make good progress - in my 7 months or so of owning a license they've gone through 2 or 3 upgrades, major and minor, that have added functionality making it even better. And, hands down, the best feature of TrackStudio is its customer service. I have to say that without a doubt the service you get with TrackStudio is the best I have ever received, without equal. I have never gone more than 24 hours without an answer to a question or problem I had - and the majority of those within 12 hours. I honestly don't understand how they do it, but then again I'm not complaining!

So even if it's not the application to solve every one of your needs (and I know that you'll have a hard time finding one that will!), I highly recommend TrackStudio for its basic out-of-the-box functionality, its raw customizability, and its development & support base.

Erik Hammel, (organisation withheld)